<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3086" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=4>HellO!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=4>If you install grml which i think i will.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=4>Can you run brltty or yascr on that distro?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=4>A/nders.</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=jheim@math.wisc.edu href="mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu">John Heim</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=blinux-list@redhat.com href="mailto:blinux-list@redhat.com">Linux for blind general discussion</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, May 30, 2007 3:44 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Hello from a new member, and some questions</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Allison Mervis" <<A href="mailto:allisonfm@gmail.com">allisonfm@gmail.com</A>><BR>To: <<A href="mailto:blinux-list@redhat.com">blinux-list@redhat.com</A>><BR>Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 8:21 PM<BR>Subject: Hello from a new member, and some questions<BR><BR><BR>> Hi all!<BR>> My name is Allison, and I am very new to the world of Linux. I read what <BR>> seemed like the portions of the FAQ which pertain to my situation, but I <BR>> still have some questions.<BR>> Right now, I'm using an Acer laptop running Windows XP home SP2. What I <BR>> would like to do is burn an image of a version of Linux bundled with a <BR>> Screen reader onto A CD, (I think the correct term is live CD) insert it <BR>> into the drive, restart my computer, and have Linux boot up talking. I do <BR>> not own a hardware synth, and I understand that this limits my options. I <BR>> then want to be able to restart the computer, and tell it to boot back up <BR>> in windows. Is such a thing possible? Thanks!<BR><BR>Sorry it took me so long to respond but I was on vacation.<BR><BR><BR>Yes, a CD that you can boot your computer from without effecting the <BR>operating system on your hard drive is called a live CD.<BR><BR>My opinion is that you should start with grml. It's pronounced gremel. You <BR>can download it from <A href="http://www.grml.org">www.grml.org</A>. Oralux would also be a good choice. In <BR>some ways oralux is easier to use than grml but in some ways it's harder. If <BR>you start with oralux, you should be able to get speech immediately. But <BR>after it finishes booting, you'll be in emacs which has an extremely high <BR>learning curve. With grml, it's just a bit more difficult to get speech <BR>started but once you get it started, you're just at a linux shell prompt. <BR>And then anything you do from a tutorial on learning linux should work. If <BR>you start with oralux, you'd have to learn at least a little about emacs <BR>before you can start learning about linux.<BR><BR>Another thing to consider is what your goal is. Are you learning linux <BR>because you're a computer professional? If so, that would make a difference <BR>as to how I think you should proceed. I think it is an extremely good <BR>career move if you're blind to learn linux. I don't think I'd be employed if <BR>I didn't know linux. But, linux isn't easy to learn.<BR><BR>Another point to consider is your hardware. You mentioned that you have an <BR>Acer computer. Do you know the amount of memory and the speed of the CPU? <BR>Someone else mentioned ubuntu. This is a live CD that runs a graphical user <BR>interface. As a result, it has some minimal hardware requirements. I've <BR>found that in order to get acceptable performance, you need at least 256 Mb <BR>of RAM and a 1.8 Ghz processor. A computer that is 4 years old or newer <BR>should work. It might work on an older computer but if you are used to JAWS <BR>you will be disappointed.<BR><BR>The ubuntu CD would have the additional disadvantage in that you will have <BR>to learn how to use the graphical user interface as well as the screen <BR>reader.<BR><BR>TThe last point to consider about the ubuntu CD is that the screen reader <BR>it uses, called orca, is still under development. Oralux uses something <BR>called emacspeak which is very stable and grml uses something called speakup <BR>which is also very stable. I am only guessing but I really think that the <BR>vast majority of blind professionals use speakup.<BR><BR>PS: You can use speakup with the live oralux CD. I've never tried it though. <BR>I'm not sure what advantage that would have over using grml.<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Blinux-list mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:Blinux-list@redhat.com">Blinux-list@redhat.com</A><BR><A href="https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list">https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>